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Changes and challenges: Local representative democracy in Poland
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to report on how elected representatives perceive the current status and role of municipal council in governing process. The particular attention is paid to the impact of the introduced in 2002 leadership reform and influence of new participatory framework on council’s position and say. The paper draws on empirical data collected in municipalities of Lubelskie region under two, separate research projects in 2015 and 2016. The main research findings indicate that representing residents’ interests and controlling the executive constitute the priories for Polish councilors. Local representatives think at the same time that their role in governing process constantly diminishes. The main impact on this situation had the introduction of elected mayors what not only limited council’s say but also changed the governing pattern.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/k.2016.23.1.181
Date of publication: 2017-04-04 10:19:51
Date of submission: 2016-11-02 23:28:43
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